WORDS

 my weekly posting of a poem, a quote and a passage from literature.

Ask of Her, the mighty Mother.

Her reply puts this other

Question: What is Spring?-

Growth in every thing -

Flesh and fleece, fur and feather,

Grass and green world all together,

Star-eyed strawberry breasted

Throstle above Her nested

Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin

Forms and warms the life within,

And bird and blossom swell

In sod or sheath or shell."  

 ~Gerard Manly Hopkins

We need a renaissance of wonder. We need to renew, in our hearts and in our souls, the deathless dream, the eternal poetry, the perennial sense that life is miracle and magic.
~ E. Merrill Root



"The stranger was dressed all in red, excepting a little black around the base of his bill. Even his bill was red. He wore a beautiful red crest which made him still more distinguished looking, and how he could sing!   Peter had noticed that quite often the most beautifully dressed birds have the poorest songs. But this stranger's song was as beautiful as his coat,and that was one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, that Peter ever had seen.
                    ~Peter talking about Glory the Cardinal in The Burgess Bird Book for Children

SUNDAY STROLL - GRADUATION

My Sunday Stroll today took me to my daughter's graduation from college today, the fourth child to graduate, and two more children in another decade or so.

The day was warm and the sky was cloud covered, giving us a respite from the hot sun. The sun did come out in all its glory but there was shade under the trees if one needed a break from its rays, like the little children who also needed to listen to all the long speeches in comfort.

       Most all the family was in attendance! ( We miss you Chuck!)

The message of the day:

One person can make a difference. Everyone should give it a try.

( see the tall blonde at the top of the hill at the left)

People were not the only ones interested in the festivities. Something clouded the sky above my head and came to rest in the crook of the tree and stayed for quite awhile.

And one of the speeches had to stop for a moment as a flock of Canadian geese circled the skies, around and around above the graduates as if to say

 "Today you have been given wings. . . so FLY"

The day was glorious

 Congratulations to my girl from a very proud and happy mom.

FRIDAYS FLOWERS

 I  just read an article about how important it is to make our house and our lives beautiful for US, not just company that comes to visit, but the people that live in the house day in and day out. It made mention of always having fresh flowers to enjoy. 


I LOVE flowers but don't always have a bouquet on hand. And why not? Nowadays I can pick up a bunch at the market if flowers are long gone in my own garden. I plan to make a point to always have flowers.


It is so true how life is all connected, and very timely, that I came across FIMBY who is hosting Fridays Flowers. ( Thank you Lise!)   JUST PERFECT!


So as the sun was descending in the sky, I rushed out and gathered flowers from my front yard. Fridays Flowers will now get me in the habit of having flowering beauties IN my house as well as out.

CAN YOU HEAR IT

It is the call of eight Eastern Gray Treefrogs (Hyla versicolor) that we rescued from our POOL last night. They were crawling up the sides but could not navigate the overhang.


Armed with a net and a flashlight, my girl and I helped them on their way. Later that night we could hear them further into the woodlands. 

ADDED NOTE- 6pm :
We saved another frog today and got some pictures too. 

The undersides of his inner legs are a brilliant GOLD color. I tried to make him move to snap a picture but he jumped away too fast into the woodlands

CREATIVE SPARK

Did you ever want to create with color but didn't know exactly what you wanted to do ?  


Just go ahead and DO !. . .  we call them *creative sparks* here, that play with different art techniques and art medium just because you want to. 


You can add them to your art stash to use at another time, perhaps for that future project. It's the process that really counts anyway.


I found this creative spark on the kitchen table this morning :

She used colored dye on tissues (you know, kleenex tissues!) and used only a three color palette.

Other times she has used paint, or sharpie markers, on paper towels.

It is art in its own right or can be incorporated into a mixed media piece.

COOL, huh?

{this moment}

Following SouleMama's inspiration :
"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

A FAERIE WALKABOUT

We began our new *Faerie Walkabout* (a faerie trail) that meanders through the woodlands. Along the way we built faerie houses and will also plant shade plants. People will stay to the path so as not to disturb the plant life, wild life and faerie houses as they enjoy our walkabout.

You know children are engrossed in the moment and enjoying themselves when they spend an hour and a half in the woodlands building faerie houses, and even work straight through lunchtime. When you're having fun who thinks about food??? 

 The children used bark, moss, sticks, pinecones, acorns, leaves, stones and other natural materials to construct their houses. Only natural materials are allowed to be used in faerie houses.

THE GALLERY 

                                             Tables and Chairs:

Table and Chairs:

                                             Lamp Post:

EGG CHARACTERS

The older children were just as eager to make the simple egg craft as the young ones. It just goes to show you we are all creative souls and love to make and create.


We used our organic duck and hen eggs. Can you pick out the duck egg?

We opened the eggs by poking a clean nail in the top to make a hole large enough to allow the insides to slip out and then broke the shell down a bit more with our fingers and the children started drawing faces.

And we saved the luscious, golden yolks for baking.

The egg shells were filled with potting soil and wheat seeds and were watered very gently.

Then we waited  :)

The children can also give their eggs a haircut with scissors.
 And cats love to nibble on wheat grass.